Fudge disaster - help please!

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I've made fudge before using this recipe, with no problems. Today though, as soon as I poured it into the tin and tried to spread it flat, it hardened, went sort of brittle and crumbly and now looks awful, lumpy and uneven, and sort of rough rather than smooth. Any ideas?

maybe it was a bit too cold/well beaten before you poured it into the tin?

sounds as if it was setting as it was poured to me

So do you pour while still really hot? It wasn't that cool, I don't think, and I didn't even leave it that long. I've read so many conflicting things recently about fudge-making, I think it clouded my instinct. Do you stir while boiling, or after? And as I was adding chocolate chips, I didn't want the fudge to be too hot or it would melt the chocolate, so I let it cool for 5 minutes before adding chocolate, then pouring into the tin. Not sure what to do differently next time to make it smooth, iyswim

I stir it as it cools as I like the texture it creates, I stir for around five minutes after the fudge comes off the heat. I have never eaten choc chip fudge....if I was to add choc chips I'd add them at the end of the five minutes and expect a more rippled effect. It's an odd recipe...usually it's butter, sugar and condensed milk...a thermometer helps it establish the correct point to stop boiling.

Thanks for the advice. Maybe I didn't stir it enough at the end, then... Will try a second batch today. What's the glucose for do you think?

I've never used a recipe without condensed milk either but since that's usually produced by nasty nestlay, I don't buy it

You say you've used this one before with success, I'm going to give it a try too

I'd think the glycerine is to help it stay soft, it's used in sugar craft to stop icing being too brittle

Usually fudge that is crumbly and hard is caused by stirring too much for too long. I usually set the fudge aside for a minute after taking off the heat and then gently stir until the mixture is slightly dull rather than very shiny. It's a very subtle change though, when I first started making it I expected the mixture to be completely dull with no shine whatsoever. So I kept stirring and stirring with this in mind and ended up with something similar to what you have.

The glucose is to control the size of the sugar crystals within the fudge I think. I always have a better, smoother texture with glucose. Less granular. I am just an amateur though so I can't pretend to be an authority I'm afraid

I noticed waitrose have their own brand condensed milk but that might be made by Nestlé too - worth checking it out though. Also I prefer crumbly with a fine melting texture similar to Burnt Sugar fudge rather than squidgy fudge, so if you're after the squidgy version ignore my advice.

No, I do prefer slightly crumbly texture, and not the soft toffee chewy variety. I am rather bemused because as Flank says, I had read that too much stirring made fudge brittle, whereas this recipe says to stir continuously for five minutes after the boiling . I've tasted it today, and it tastes good, and has the right texture in the mouth, but is so crumbly it's almost impossible to cut into squares presentable enough to give as gifts . I've got about half that is good enough for gifts but the rest is just too crumbly. Not sure what to do with it!

Thanks everyone for the advice. Will try stirring a bit more next time and see if it works better.

Perfect fudge this time! Thanks again for replies